You've Got Mail
by Ellsie Kai
Summary: An email virus has made it's way into Eureka's internet system causing destruction through a mysterious email. Now Jack & Fargo have to team up to find out who's responsible before the bug hits outside Eureka.  Takes place during Season 2.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any part of "Eureka". The characters, nor idea, belong to me.

**You've Got Mail **

Sitting at the computer was nothing new for Zoe, what was new was that her father was screaming at her to finish her homework instead of browsing the web. _Where is he?_ she thought to herself as she finally turned away from the screen. The house was empty save for her, and it was nearing seven pm. Her father usually came in at six. But, Zoe supposed, as Sheriff in a town of accident prone geniuses, you can be a little late sometimes.

She turned back to the computer and let out a sigh, she was bored, apparently googling random images wasn't that interesting when it didn't bother someone else. "Sarah!" Zoe called out.

"Yes, Zoe. Are you getting hungry? I could fix a dinner for you while you wait for Jack," the house answered back in it's monotone voice.

"No, thanks," Zoe said back, scrolling the mouse around her homepage. "No, Sarah, I was just wondering if you could," she stopped and rolled her eyes, "if you could, I don't know, make disgruntled noises at me?"

There was a slight pause before Sarah answered. "I'm sorry, Zoe, but I don't quite understand what you mean by that."

With a quick shrug, she laughed, saying, "Never mind. Forget it."

Zoe closed down her computer and went to the phone. After dialing on of the few numbers she knew by heart (thanks to contact lists), she heard the deputy's voice answer before the second ring. "Lupo."

Jo Lupo wasn't complicated and so the casual greeting didn't exactly stun Zoe. "Hey, Jo, it's Zoe. Do you know if my father was planning on abandoning me tonight or...?"

"I don't know, the Sheriff prefers to ignore you straight to your face," Jo responded with a hint of sarcasm. "But, hey, what do I know? I'm only a measly deputy, but you. You are his daughter, what do you think?"

Before she could answer, Zoe heard her father on the other side wrestling the phone away from Jo. Zoe tried not to smile, she wanted her father to hear how upset he was that he hadn't called and he wouldn't if she was reprimanding him through a smile. She was able to subdue the smirk by the time her father got the phone away from Jo. "Hey, honey, listen I'm going to be a little late tonight."

"Really," she said, eyes wide at the simplicity of her father. She held the phone close and lowered herself onto the couch she had been leaning on, "Yea, I figured that when you were late."

"I'm sorry I didn't call before but we're working on this case. Apparently a retired GD guy got his hands on some nuclear, bio-hazardous, ionic, platonic---" Before he could go on Zoe heard Jo correcting him in the back and though it sounded a little muffled she could here her father say, "From now on, Deputy, you can only correct me when I'm right." As Zoe tried to figure out how, exactly, they were related, her father was back on the line. "Anyway, whatever it was it caused a bit of a scene in town and we have to sort it out. Are you okay there by yourself?"

A small ding sounded from her laptop and Zoe got up to walk to the counter where she had left it. "Yea, sure, whatever. Sarah already offered to make me some food." She opened the computer and saw a little message pop up on screen. It was weird, Zoe would've swore she had shut down the computer, but there it was a "You've got mail" envelope. Zoe clicked on it as her father went on about not staying up to late and doing her homework and brushing her teeth before bed, the usual father-daughter talk. As soon as the e-mail opened onto her screen there was a loud bang and a bright blue light that seemed to come from everywhere. Then all was dark and all Zoe could here was her father on the other end of the line calling out her name.


	2. Chapter 2

As Jack raced down the highway, heading for the bunker, he felt glad that he was the Sheriff because going 75 mph on a 45 mph road wasn't exactly legal. But, after hearing the bang that came from Zoe's side of the phone, even the good ol' Sheriff Carter felt compelled to break the law. He had never jumped into a car and driven through a town so fast.

As he drove, and kept his eyes on the road, Jack stumbled around for his phone. Without looking, he dialed the house number. He ground his teeth and tried to wait patiently, it took all he had when, after four rings, the dial tone blared into his ear. Throwing his phone behind him into the back seat. His frustration with this town was weighing hard on him. Not only was Zoe not answering but neither was Sarah. As a SMART house, she was programmed to answer the telephone after it's third ring. She was seriously overgrown answering machine.

As if the unanswered call wasn't enough, Jack's fears were thrown into over-drive when he turned onto the lot before his house and saw Zoe walking around the bunker, dazed. Her blonde hair looked oily and her face pale, knowing his daughter as a teenager in high school, this father knew that she would not have left her room like that, let alone the house. This set off panic missiles within Jack's head.

Jumping out of his jeep before it even came to a complete stop, the father ran to his daughter.

"Zoe?!" Jack grabbed her shoulders when he got close enough. Up close, he could see that Zoe's blue eyes were blood shot and tears were streaming down. "Zoe," he said again, softer. "Honey, hey, are you okay?"

The girl just looked up at him with wide eyes, looking more fragile than she had in six years, she squeaked out, "Daddy, I don't feel well." She then crumbled into his arms and it was all Jack could do not to squeeze her as hard as he did when she was a toddler.


	3. Chapter 3

The beeping machines and bright white of the lab were all too familiar to Jack. In the short year he'd lived in Eureka, it seemed he had been inside Global Dynamics more than he'd been at his own home. But, he supposed, that was what happened when you were the sheriff of a town full of geniuses, all problems go back to this place. The technology of the building was enough to make him uneasy, with all this energy in one place he was sure it wouldn't last, but with his daughter laying just two doors away, unconscious, it was all Jack could do not to climb the walls.

Waiting for Nathan Stark was slowly becoming torture, almost as bad as it was talking to Nathan Stark. He was in the room, examining Zoe after the episode at their bunker. He was a "genius", Jack had to admit, and he had helped in the past but that didn't mean they had to like each other. Though if Nathan figured out what happened to Zoe and fixed it, Jack might have to rethink his stance on the man. Anyone who could help his only daughter would get nothing less.

Jack rung his hands several times over, working out his tension to no avail. But waiting was for visitors, Jack was the Sherriff and that meant he didn't need to wait. Standing up, he tried to brush the terrified father look from his face and started toward his daughter's room. The Sherriff was feet from the door, breathing heavily, when Stark appeared.

Swinging the door shut behind him, tall, dark, and brilliant Nathan Stark stood medical chart in hand. He opened his mouth to let out a deep breath, he finally spoke, to Jack's relief, "Where's Fargo?"

Those were not the words the father wanted to hear and he stumbled for the appropriate response, "Um... I--I don't know. Working on his 'Ode to Buffy' website? I'm not sure. How's Zoe?" The stuttering answer came out in a rush.

Ignoring Jack the best way he knew how, Stark pulled out his cell phone and pressed a couple buttons. He turned and started away from the room, Jack on his heels, eyes never away from Zoe's door for long. "Fargo," Nathan barked into the phone, "I need you down here in the informatory. Room CB08. Now."

He hung up and turned to face Jack, finally acknowledging his existence in GD. "What exactly happened today?" It was quick, it was straight, it was Stark.

Again, Jack struggled for words, his face etched with concern, "I'm not really sure. I was on the phone with her when all of a sudden there was this explosion. The phone went dead. Then when I got there she was completely dazed. Then she collapsed."

Nathan jotted down some notes on his chart as Jack spoke, nodding as every doctor is programmed to do. It was an eternity before Nathan spoke again, "Where is Fargo? Did he get lost in the elevator?" His head was looking around, a motion Jack saw a lot as a US Marshall, he was avoiding eye contact. With his neck bobbing around and eyes shifting in every direction, Jack knew he was hiding something. Letting his father-self get the best of him, Jack exploded, "NATHAN!" This grabbed the doctor's attention, forcing to confront the Sherriff's eyes. "Is my daughter going to be okay?"

Letting out a frustrated breath, Stark answered Jack directly, "I don't know, Jack. I've never seen this before."

"What? What haven't you seen before?"

"Zoe. Her body is, for lack of a better term, she's in Sleep Mode."


End file.
